Giovanni's Pizza in Paintsville, KY

Basic Information:

Pizza: Giovanni's Pizza

Number of Locations: about 100 across 6 states; based in Ashland, KY
Location Reviewed: 257 Court Street in downtown Paintsville, KY
Website: https://giovannispizza.com/
Date of Review Visit: April 2026
What I Ordered: small (10") pizza with regular sausage and regular pepperoni
Price: $13.52 (pizza only, includes tax but not drink or tip)
Photo:

Summary Review: 4.5 stars (out of 5)

 

Detailed Review:

Crust: The crust on Giovanni's Pizza is fairly thick, just as I like it.  It has a nice crispy texture, but it's not hard.  This is a good crust.  Score: 10/10

Sauce: This pizza has a decent amount of sauce, but the texture is on the thin side.  I could taste the tomatoes in this sauce, so it could be worse.  Score: 7/10

Cheese: This pizza has plenty of yummy cheese, and it does not produce a lot of grease.  Brilliant!  Score: 10/10

Toppings: Both of the toppings appear in adequate quantity, but both are a little bland in flavor.  Giovanni's offers spicy version of both the sausage and the pepperoni, so maybe I should have chosen the spicy sausage.  Score: 8/10

Overall Taste: The overall taste is robust and filling but on the bland side.  Score: 7/10

Pizza Appearance: This pizza has plenty of cheese and toppings, which dominate the appearance.

Dining Atmosphere: I ordered take out, but the dining room is very casual with 80s style video games.

Customer Service: The service was quick and friendly.

Monetary Value: High quality plus decent price equals pretty high value.

The Final Judgment:

Many regional chains make fantastic pizza, and Giovanni's is no exception.  If I lived near one of their locations, I would order from here regularly.  Score: 86/100

Pizza Plus in East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia

Basic Information:

Pizza: Pizza Plus

Number of Locations: 52, mostly in Tennessee and Virginia
Location Reviewed: 606 E. 5th Street in Big Stone Gap, VA
Website: https://pizzaplusinc.com/
Date of Review Visit: April 2026
What I Ordered: small pizza with sausage and pepperoni, Dr. Pepper to drink
Price: $15.85 (includes drink and tax but not tip)
Photo:

Summary Review: 4 stars (out of 5)

 

Detailed Review:

Crust: Pizza Plus offers 2 crusts: thick and thin.  It will come as no surprise to regular readers of this blog that I chose thick.  The thick crust is somewhat thick, but it is not a true deep dish.  It has a nice and crispy texture on the outside.  My crust was somewhat soggy underneath, which is never a good thing.  Score: 6/10

Sauce: The sauce has a discernable but not particularly strong tomato flavor.  It appears in adequate quantity.  Score: 8/10

Cheese: This pizza has sufficient cheese with decent flavor when you sprinkle on some parmesan.  But this cheese produces more than sufficient grease, which leads to an automatic deduction.  Score: 7/10

Toppings: The sausage looks like the horrible pellet variety, but in fact it has a little spiciness without being overspiced.  The pepperoni is unremarkable.  Both toppings appear in plenty of quantity.  Score: 8/10

Overall Taste: This pizza would have a very bland overall taste were it not for the sausage.  Score: 7.5/10

Pizza Appearance: This pizza has a very average appearance; it is dominated by the toppings.

Dining Atmosphere: Pizza Plus has a casual dining atmosphere similar to an old-fashioned Pizza Hut.  The Big Stone Gap location has some Roku televisions for entertainment.

Customer Service: on the casual side.  They have no knives to cut your pizza with, only forks.  I couldn't cut my thick crust with a fork, so I had to pick it up with my hands and eat it the "American way."

Monetary Value: This pizza has decent quality, but the price is pretty low, so the value is fairly high.

The Final Judgment:

I first encountered Pizza Plus when I visited my cousins in Tennessee many years ago.  I thought pretty highly of it then, and I still do today.  While it may not be unique enough to be your favorite pizza, it is worth coming here regularly.  Score: 81/100

Geno's Pizza, Wings, and Fingers in Scottsboro, AL

Basic Information:

Pizza: Geno's Pizza, Wings, and Fingers

Number of Locations: 1
Location Reviewed: 23780 John T. Reid Parkway in Scottsboro, AL (north side of US 72 just west of SR 35)
Website: https://www.facebook.com/p/Genos-Pizzas-Wings-Fingers-100063895276304/
Date of Review Visit: March 2026
What I Ordered: 9" pizza with pepperoni, Italian sausage, and ham
Price: $17.42 (includes drink and tax but not tip)
Photo:

Summary Review: 5 stars (out of 5)

 

Detailed Review:

Crust: The crust on Geno's Pizza is a true southern-style thin crust.  Like most crusts of this type, it has a nice crispy texture but not a lot of taste.  This type of crust is hard to bake the right amount, but mine was baked perfectly.  This is not my favorite style of crust, but this crust is pretty good for what it is.  Score: 9/10

Sauce: This pizza has a fair amount of sauce, and the sauce has a nice fresh tomatoey taste.  Score: 9/10

Cheese: This pizza is well-cheesed, and it has a pleasant taste if you sprinkle on some parmesan.  Score: 10/10

Toppings: The ham and pepperoni have a nice fresh pork taste.  The Italian sausage is fairly spicy and doesn't fit the rest of the pizza.  All toppings appear in high quantity.  Score: 9/10

Overall Taste: There is too much spiciness from the Italian sausage, and the crust makes too small of a flavor contribution.  But the fact that I noticed those 2 things says that the flavors mostly blend rather well.  Score: 8.5/10

Pizza Appearance: This pizza looks like a nice thin crust pizza with the toppings dominating the appearance.

Dining Atmosphere: Geno's has a sports bar atmosphere with plenty of TVs.

Customer Service: The service was quick and friendly on my visit.

Monetary Value: Above average quality plus average price equals above average value.

The Final Judgment:

I was pleasantly surprised by this small town pizza place.  Geno's makes a tasty pizza with a solid dining atmosphere at a fair price, and if you drive US 72 across northeast Alabama you should stop and eat here.  Score: 90/100

Olive Branch Mediterranean and Italian Grill in Greenwood, SC

Basic Information:

Pizza: Olive Branch Mediterranean and Italian Grill

Number of Locations: 1
Location Reviewed: 109 Birchtree Drive in Greenwood, SC (on the north side of Greenwood just south of US 25 and Bypass 72)
Website: https://olivebranchofgreenwood.com/
Date of Review Visit: March 2026
What I Ordered: double pepperoni calzone, Dr. Pepper to drink
Price: $18.26 (includes drink and tax but not tip)
Photo:

Summary Review: 3.5 stars (out of 5)

 

Detailed Review:

Crust: Olive Branch Mediterranean and Italian Grill does offer pizza, but for a change of pace I decided to order a calzone rather than a pizza.  The "crust" on the calzone is predictably thin but on the hard side.  My calzone was slightly overbaked.  For a calzone, this is a passable crust.  Score: 6/10

Sauce: Unlike some calzones, there is some sauce in this calzone.  The sauce has a nice thick texture and a pleasant tomato taste.  I like it.  Score: 9/10

Cheese: This calzone is stuffed with plenty of yummy cheese.  This calzone did come with LOTS of grease, which leads to a mandatory deduction.  Score: 7/10

Toppings: This calzone has plenty of pepperoni, and it comes in thick yummy wads.  The pepperoni is a little spicy but not overly spicy, and it seems to work well for pizzas and calzones.  Score: 9/10

Overall Taste: The overall taste would be excellent except for the hard, semi-burnt crust and abundance of grease.  Score: 7.5/10

Calzone Appearance: not the best: it looks flat and burnt.

Dining Atmosphere: Olive Branch has a beautiful and well-decorated casual dining area.  I really enjoyed eating here.

Customer Service: the service was fine except that the server twice failed to take my credit card when she came out to serve other tables.  It took me 15 minutes to pay my bill when I was done eating.

Monetary Value: above average quality plus slightly above average price yields slightly above average value.

The Final Judgment:

The dining room at Olive Branch might be better than the food, although I enjoyed both.  For a nice and reasonably priced casual dining experience, Olive Branch deserves a spot in your pizza rotation.  Score: 79/100

Papa Johns Pan Pizza

Basic Information:

Pizza: Papa Johns Pan Pizza

Number of Locations: many nationwide
Location Reviewed: 3010 North Main Street in Anderson, SC
Website: https://www.papajohns.com/
Date of Review Visit: March 2026
What I Ordered: pan pizza (12") with pepperoni and sausage
Price: $15.24 (pizza only, includes tax but not drink or tip)
Photos:

Summary Review: 2 stars (out of 5)

 

Detailed Review:

Crust: Papa Johns' usual crust is known for having a fresh bready taste but being very bulky.  Now comes the even bulkier pan crust.  The thickness and texture is similar to Domino's pan pizza, but this pan pizza has parmesan cheese baked all the way to the edge, which gives the crust a mild cheesy flavor.  I kind of like the cheesy flavor, but I would still prefer a true deep dish crust on my pan pizza.  Score: 8/10

Sauce: Papa Johns is well-known for using sauce that is way too sweet.  It even tastes too sweet to me, and I like sweet sauces.  Aside from the sweetness, the quantity and texture are quite appealing.  Score: 7/10

Cheese: Aside from the parmesan cheese near the edge, this is the most undercheesed pizza I have had recently.  Look at all that bare sauce!  I thought about giving a score of 0 on this category, but.... Score: 1/10

Toppings: The sausage just sits there and adds no real flavor.  Papa Johns used to have better sausage than this.  The pepperoni is not overly spicy, and it blends nicely with the sweetness of the sauce.  Both toppings appear in high quantity.  Score: 7/10

Overall Taste: The overall taste is fairly uninspiring.  The parmesan on the crust definitely comes through, as does the sweetness of the sauce, but those 2 flavors don't really combine that well.  Score: 6/10

Pizza Appearance: This pizza has a very bare appearance due to the lack of cheese.  I have always thrown out the infamous peppers and garlic sauce that come with every Papa Johns pizza.  That fact does not directly impact the appearance of the pizza, but I needed to mention it somewhere.

Dining Atmosphere: (not applicable; like most Papa Johns locations, this location is take out only)

Customer Service: The service was quick and friendly on my visit, as usual at Papa Johns.

Monetary Value: The price is not crazy, but the quality is not particularly high.  Thus, there are better values on Papa Johns menu.  I personally prefer the epic stuffed crust.

The Final Judgment:

Papa Johns used to be my favorite among the big national pizza chains, but I'm not sure I can say that any more.  This pan pizza may be the worst pizza Papa Johns has ever offered, and I prefer the pan pizzas at Pizza Hut and Dominos to this one.  Score: 64/100

Rotolo's Craft and Crust Pizzeria

Basic Information:

Pizza: Rotolo's Craft and Crust Pizzeria

Number of Locations: 30+ across 9 states; based in Baton Rouge, LA
Location Reviewed: 1314 Maxwell Blvd. in Ruston, LA (north side of I-20 between exits 85 and 86)
Website: https://rotolos.com/
Date of Review Visit: February 2026
What I Ordered: Simple Man (10" Deep Dish Pizza) with sausage
Price: $28.06 (includes drink and tax but not tip)
Photo:

Summary Review: 4 stars (out of 5)

 

Detailed Review:

Crust: What a surprise to find a true Chicago-style deep dish crust from a pizza chain based in Louisiana!  The crust has a great texture that is nice and crispy on the outside but chewy on the inside.  The crust has an almost bready taste.  I love this crust.  Score: 10/10

Sauce: This pizza has lots of sauce, but the sauce has a slight bitter and overspiced taste.  I prefer to taste more tomatoes in my sauce.  Score: 7/10

Cheese: This pizza has plenty of cheese, and it is applied directly to the crust in true Chicago style.  Excellent! Score: 10/10

Toppings: This pizza has plenty of sausage, but the sausage is a little too spicy to put on a pizza for my taste.  In their defense, they do advertise the sausage as a spicy sausage, but the server told me it isn't that spicy even though it's pretty spicy.  Maybe I should have ordered the pepperoni.  Score: 8/10

Overall Taste: The spiciness of the sauce and sausage overwhelm my taste palette, so the overall taste is not as good as you might expect.  Score: 7.5/10

Pizza Appearance: This pizza looks like a beautiful deep dish pizza; the sauce and crust dominate the appearance.

Dining Atmosphere: Rotolo's has a pleasant somewhat upscale casual dining atmosphere.  They were hosting the Inside Tech Basketball radio program for nearby Louisiana Tech University while I was there.

Customer Service: The service was friendly and fast enough considering the burden of the radio program.

Monetary Value: The price is expensive, but the quality is quite high.  They gave me a 15% discount for finishing the entire pizza.

The Final Judgment:

I love good deep dish Chicago-style pizza.  While Rotolo's is not the best option in that category, it is good enough that I will come back here because I was so surprised to find this style of pizza in northwest Louisiana.  Score: 84/100

Roma's Italian Restaurant in Sulphur Springs, TX

Basic Information:

Pizza: Roma's Italian Restaurant

Number of Locations: 1
Location Reviewed: 400 Shannon Road East in Sulphur Springs, TX (just east of I-30, exit 124)
Website: https://romasitalianeasttx.com/
Date of Review Visit: February 2026
What I Ordered: small (12") pizza with pepperoni and sausage
Price: $18.93 (pizza only; includes tax but not drink or tip)
Photos:

Summary Review: 3 stars (out of 5)

 

Detailed Review:

Crust: The pizza crust at Roma's Italian Restaurant is thicker than you would expect for this part of the country.  It has a nice texture that is crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside, but it has no real flavor.  Every pizza at Roma's comes with breadsticks at no additional charge, but the breadsticks are horrible.  My breadsticks came at room temperature with no flavor other than salt and bread.  While this is a pizza blog and not a breadstick blog, I needed to factor in the breadsticks somewhere, so I factored them in here.  Score: 6/10

Sauce: This pizza does not have much sauce, and the sauce it does have has very little flavor.  Score: 3/10

Cheese: The cheese appears in sufficient quantity and does not produce much grease.  I like it.  Score: 9/10

Toppings: The sausage looks like the horrible pellet variety, but in fact it has a tasty amount of spiciness.  The pepperoni likewise adds just enough spiciness.  Both toppings appear in plenty of quantity.  Score: 9/10

Overall Taste: The overall taste is a little on the bland side: I really missed the tomato taste from the sauce and the bread taste of the crust.  The toppings save what could be a disaster.  Score: 7/10

Pizza Appearance: The thick crust and abundant toppings dominate the pizza's appearance.

Dining Atmosphere: Roma's has a dimly lit dining area with nice tables and chairs.  They also have a large bar, which the Baptist I am did not partake of.

Customer Service: The service was no-frills, quick, and to the point.

Monetary Value: Even when you factor in the "free" breadsticks, the price is too high relative to what you put in your mouth.

The Final Judgment:

Roma's makes a very average pizza with a dining atmosphere that does not suit my taste.  While I might come here occasionally as a change of pace, there are better pizza options in northeast Texas.  Score: 71/100